Welcome to the Kenai Peninsula Mycological Society e-group.  KPMS was formed to promote the study and enjoyment of the diverse fungal flora of the Kenai Peninsula.  Our members are typically amateurs whose interest in mushrooms range from learning to identify the scores of species in our area to cooking and eating the many exceptional edibles.

The main reason most people join clubs is to be able to interact with others who share their same interest.  This e-group is a great tool to that end, and it opens up almost unlimited possibilities for member involvement.  The e-group format has become a very popular communication tool, and many organizations now use them in place of, or in addition to their web page.

One of the chief concerns for those who use internet communications is the protection of their privacy.  Your personal e-mail address does not appear anywhere in this site, although you do have the option of identifying yourself by name or nick name.  ONLY THE E-GROUP MANAGER HAS ACCESS TO THE E-MAIL ADDRESS LIST.  The group manager will also be responsible for maintaining the archived files and addressing any abuses of the site.  While the site can be viewed by anyone, only members can post comments or upload photos or files.  As a member, you will receive a copy of every message posted to the group.   

The site size is limited to 100 megabytes of data.  In order to utilize this space the most efficiently and to be able to retrieve archived material effectively, you are asked to adhere to the following guidelines.

1.  Address only one main topic in each letter and make sure the subject line agrees with the content of your comment.  This becomes very important when attempting to retrieve archived material by subject (or “thread”). 

2.  When responding to a letter, delete all unimportant material.   It both saves space, and makes it easier for other readers to follow the conversation. 

3. Use care in wording your comments.  Remember, the reader cannot see your facial expressions or hear your tone of voice. 

4.  Photos are great, but in the interest of saving space, please resize and convert your pictures to a jpeg file before importing them.  (We are looking into other options for our photo gallery that will allow them to be posted on another site and linked back to our e-group site.)  

5.  Please do not use this venue to promote any ‘for profit’ business endeavor.   This does not exclude the use of this site to purchase or sell mycology related items on a ‘one time’ or ‘occasional’ basis.  Please clear all such requests with the site manager before posting.

To make changes to your e-group account, access the archives and files, view photos, or read posted entries, go to:  http://groups.google.com/group/kpms?hl=en

To respond to an e-mail you receive, either hit reply, or address your e-mail to: kpms@googlegroups.com, and your response will be sent to all members.

We’re glad to have you as a KPMS e-group member, and look forward to your participation.